Ticket 25k Power Increase?

[MikeShannon914]

Loved it.

You must not have worked under Brian Gann!! Bless his heart, he wanted KDNT to be on the same level as a DFW station, but we never, EVER had the ratings to even come close. I just wanted a job there to get my feet wet in radio, but didn't know kind of high-pressure cesspool I was stepping into. Sheesh, it was SUPPOSED to be small-market radio, and there's nothing wrong with a station being a big fish in a small pond! Me, I learned absolutely nothing...just too much stress to do everything absolutely perfectly and professionally. Now I know that wasn't always the case; Josh Holstead/Rowdy Yates and Michael Rey and Mark Followill and others worked there before I did, and have made nice broadcasting careers for themselves. Maybe they dealt with things better, or are just better broadcasters than me, or maybe Gann wasn't there then...who knows.

We musta worked together along the way...I used to come in at 6PM Sunday nights, and that wasn't long after the flip to Z-Rock (maybe 8 months later?)

 

[jd]

ChipK and others can verify/debunk this, but, back in 1980 or so, wouldn't it have been better for KDNT-FM or KGAF-FM to take on 104.1 instead of 94.5 to try to force it into DFW? I know 104.1 was a Sherman or Denison station back then, but considering the hassle it's been trying to make 94.5 into more than a distant rimshot over the years, would it have worked better with 104.1 instead, **IF** you had the luxury of foresight and were doing the upgrade in the 80s instead of now?

Well, the landscape was a lot different before Docket 80-90 and the rules that were in effect at the time had a bearing on those frequencies. 104.1 in Sherman was somewhat of a late arrival to the FM Table of Allotments (fine-tuning after 80-90, if you will) and the construction permit for what would become KWSM wasn't issued until 1987; it was licensed in 1989. In 1996 the FCC granted an upgrade to a Class C3 along with a move to Sanger (and the rest is history, with their fifth set of call letters, KTDK, being issued in May 2001).

So as it turns out 94.5 was the not only the better choice, it was the only choice at the time. Besides, it was already a Class C station that from all indications wouldn't require any other major moves, just enough clearance to the Cedar Hill sticks. On paper or in practice, though, they've had to address a couple of other spacing issues, first-adjacent KBRU 94.7 in Oklahoma City and co-channel KRUF in Shreveport. But it fits as a full Class C, and that's what counts. On the other hand, 104.1 is essentially maxed out unless something drastic were to happen. While the Class A on 104.1 worked in Sherman, a C3 would work only if they moved the antenna. KTDK is locked in where they are due to spacing requirements, not only to second-adjacent channel stations KVIL and KKDA-FM, but also to co-channels KMGL Oklahoma City and KKUS Tyler (itself an "80-90" station).

I had my own ideas about how a couple of upgrades could have been done, back before the 80-90 rule-making. It was an ambitious proposal involving three full-power Class C's around the area, and one of the frequencies was 104.1. The plan itself was rather simple, but it got derailed and re-written, through no fault of my own. It might have worked if all the parties had realized the urgency of it, even if the really complicated, expensive moves involving dozens of stations were still years away.

 

[The_X_Man_Cometh]

Loved it.

You must not have worked under Brian Gann!!

Ohhhh, yes I did. I departed that place probably 6-8 months before you got there, Mike. Brian was the News Director, Bob Berry and Dale Olson on the AM side, Hal the old engineer, Mark Followill was doing high school football games (the ref throws a flag and..."there's laundry on the turf!"), Big Roger Emerick was still there as the sports director, John Scott [now of WBAP] and few others. I used to wonder how that little Denton combo made any money. 'Lucky Country', indeed.

One of my favorite memories of working at KDNT was coming in during the week to get my paycheck and seeing Sheryl Hassett in FM doing afternoon drive. If you can "hear" a smile on the radio...it's Sheryl's. She had a great style that was easily comparable to Pamela Steele, IMHO. She went to sales at KVIL after that, I think. You can still see her on the Dallas Gold & Silver television ads, fanning out that load of dollar bills after selling Grandma's heirloom silverware.

I enjoyed my all-too-brief time at KDNT. Some days it was seriously flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants radio, but it sure did beat working for a living.